2017 Films

Here are our 2017 films. Our Schedule page tells you when each film is playing.

A Lotta Life. Mark Dessauer. 14 minutes. The Angel of Death visits a sweet, elderly couple.

Maureen and the Ice Queen. Beth Peloff. 1 minute. A child discovers there is more to her favorite food than meets the eye. Continuous Motion. Catherine Orchard. 6 minutes. Pete Holt, a former doughnut maker, has dedicated his life to developing his dream of “Motion 21,” a health machine and exercise program of 21 continuous movements.

Plea. Joseph Oppenheimer. 20 minutes. A wrenchingly realistic dramatic short about a public defender trying to convince her young client to take the plea and save himself from a life sentence.

The Arcade Creek Project: A Mosaic of Sustainability. Jierel Almario. 30 minutes. A long-term high school project to restore a severely degraded creek in the Sacramento area is a great example of local, youth-driven environmental action. Here is the project’s home page, and here is the trailer for the film.

Until the Last Drop: Makwekwe’s Journey into the Future of Lake Turkana. Katja Becker. 13 minutes. Makwekwe is a hip-hop artist and a member of the El Molo Tribe, whose people live on the shores of Kenya’s Lake Turkana. Lake Turkana, in far northern Kenya, is the world’s largest desert lake and home to 300,000 people. The lake is under threat from hydroelectric projects and upstream water withdrawals. Makwekwe is trying to save his people and the other tribes that depend on the lake.

The Opera Singer. Steve Kahn. 3 minutes. “One minute you’re young and finding a reason to stop yourself from flying off to Italy to become an opera singer, and the next . . .” An older woman finds herself with regrets for the past and concerns for the present.

Waabooz. Molly Katagiri. 20 minutes. From the Red Cliff Reservation, this mainly-live-action warm and delightful film tells the story of a young Native comic book illustrator who makes an important transition to self -confidence and strength with the help of his creation– a super hero rabbit– and the help of his grandfather and his Tribe’s traditions.

Saving Brinton. Tommy Haines and Andrew Sherburne. 87 minutes. From the team that brought us Pond Hockey,Husker Sand, and Gold Fever (2013 BWFF Best Documentary), comes this latest gem. The intertwined stories of a trove of the very earliest moving pictures found in a small town in Iowa, the husband and wife team from that town who were among the very earliest promoters of the movies, and the eccentric collector who has devoted himself to saving and showing the films, make for an utterly fascinating look at what brought us to the movies over a hundred years ago and what keeps bringing us today. Here is the trailer.

Light Sight. Seyed M. Tabatabaei. 8 minutes. At only eight minutes and without a single human being

or live action character on screen, this may be the most moving, heartbreaking, and beautiful film you will see all year.

In a Small Town. John Ferry. 43 minutes. One of BWFF’s favorite filmmakers, who won Best Documentary in our inaugural year for his film about Sitting Bull, John tells us more about himself in this film– how he started out as Jean Pierrre, became Juan Pedro, and finally, when his family landed in a small town in southern Illinois, John.

Operation Wolf Patrol: Poacher’s Kingdom. Joseph Brown. 12 minutes. Wait! Didn’t we show this film last year? No, we just showed one that is almost identically named. Like last year’s film, this one takes a close look at the controversial group “Wolf Patrol” and its efforts to raise awareness about wolf and bear poaching, and about Wisconsin’s “hunter harassment” law which has been used to prevent groups such as Wolf Patrol from photographing hunting on public lands– only this time the filmmakers have learned a lot more about filmmaking!

Old Men Singing. Mickey Rapkin and Zachary Weil. 22 minutes. After losing touch for more than 50 years, the men of a collegiate a cappella group reunite on campus to find out if they still have what it takes to perform together in this documentary short about the enduring power of music and the families we choose. Mickey Rapkin, the author of “Pitch Perfect,” and Zach Weil returned to their alma mater, Cornell University, to make this film.

Before the Last Drop. Hamilton Pevec, Austin Lottimer. 86 minutes. This is one of the best-made documentaries about a serious subject with lots of information to convey that we have seen in ten years. You may not think you want to watch an hour-and-a-half documentary about fracking (some of us didn’t), but the time will fly, you will learn a lot about stuff you didn’t even know you didn’t know, and you will not want to get up for popcorn until the last minutes have run. (If you do you will miss a real treat.)

The Day Truffaut Died. John Akre. 4 minutes. We have shown a John Akre film at BWFF almost every year, including 2012 when his Bounce won Best Short-Short. John is a master of the very short film that emotionally punches way above its weight. In this film John recalls, well, the day Truffaut died.

Numbness. Milad Jarmooz. 12 minutes. This is a dozen minutes of riveting tension as the families of the bride and groom face off in a Iranian hospital hallway after the groom has accused the bride of lacking virginity on their wedding night. There are at least a couple of plot twists in this film featuring strong female characters and great acting– so read those subtitles fast!

The Man Who Forgot to Breathe. Saman Hosseinpuor. 17 minutes. Saman won Best Short-Short last year with his four-minute film Fish, which has also now won several international awards. His latest film is longer and darker, about a man in marital trouble, who forgets to breathe.

Fifteen. Kara Hakanson. 27 minutes. Set in Cornucopia, Wisconsin, a story about the first time. Yep. THAT first time. Adult themes.

Girl Meets Roach. Christopher Zatta. 17 minutes. Dumped just before Christmas, a young woman strikes up a friendship with a cockroach. Is the roach just a transitional friend?

I Want You, Moi Non Plus. Sebastian Messinger. 13 minutes. What would happen if people behaved like nations? Marianne, a photographer, moves from France to Montreal hoping to launch her photography career, but must deal with her agent (and admirer) who moves in with her. Lots of fun, creative features in this film.

The Tug. Nic Barker.1 minute. Matt and Emma are about to take their relationship to the next level. (We spend a lot of time at the BWFF selection viewings saying, “If only that movie were a little shorter . . .” This one is the perfect length!)

Proverbial Luck. Dave Lojek and Steffi Sixdorf. 5 minutes. This whimsical film from Austria, which has been accepted into over 100 film festivals around the globe, takes a literal look at language idioms.

Behold, Such Clown. Jacob Pilgaard. 25 minutes. During his last day working as a hospital clown, Elias makes a startling discovery. This beautifully acted, emotionally powerful, award-winning short film from Denmark examines compassion, family, and redemption.

Resurgence: Restoring Life and Hope to a Barren Land. Ankit Sharma. 30 minutes. This film from India documents grass-roots efforts to cope with climate change and drought in rural communities.

The Ragman: A Hobo’s Story Untold. Cy Dodson. 15 minutes. A fun story about the rediscovery of a hobo musician and the re-recording of his music.

New. Simone LeClaire. 2 minutes. They try something new.

The Last Doll Lady. Taryn Hough. 21 minutes. In an era of intolerance and racial violence B’nai Brith introduced a national program to teach tolerance to children, using dolls of famous people: Martin Luther King, Jr., Abraham Lincoln, Helen Keller, etc. One “Doll Lady” still works at using a 50 year old teaching method to address problems that are still as urgent as they were then.

Wintry Spring. Mohamed Kamel. 15 minutes. In this Egyptian film, another one of our Middle Eastern films exploring family dynamics, a young girl who lives alone with her father experiences her first period. The BWFF committee has been taken with the number and quality of films we have received this yearfrom the region.

FBPD. John Gigrich. 8 minutes. Time for a little silliness! Ride along with the Facebook Police and vicariously act out all the things you’ve wanted to do to your Facebook friends who post annoying updates.

The Spirit of Standing Rock. Paulette Moore. 28 minutes. Paulette captures indelible images and narratives from the front line of the battle over the Dakota Access Pipe Line.